Design Conference Trends for 2022

Smaller and shorter events throughout the year bridging the experience gap of attendees between annual events. With a selection of speakers who do not immediately take an hour of speaking time, but rather 20 minutes. Event content can be turned into on-demand resources that keep attendees coming back year-round to continue learning, self-learning, and more.

Examples are Stay Curious by Beyond Tellerrand, PlaygroundTV by We Are Playgrounds.

This one is closely related to Micro Events. Due to all the uncertainties surrounding COVID, event planners need to be extremely flexible with their planning and budget. Working with hubs run by the community brings people together in-person or at online gatherings throughout the year, around the main conference theme. Locally organized events help participants build new relationships and support your network.

Examples are the House of Beautiful People Chambers, Creative Mornings, and the fully automated Nomadlist community member events.
Community building apps to look at Circle, Orbit, Discord, or Beyond.

Metaverses are already here, but not the one Zuck is imagining. When Travis Scott performed in Fortnite in April 2020, over 12 million people came to the show and spent real money on digital fan wear to wear in Fortnite. The Metaverse is not just the next big thing for events. It represents a fundamental shift in infrastructure, business models, suppliers, technology, user experience, and overall sustainability. With Meta, Epic Games, and Microsoft investing billions in creating their version of a Metaverse, it is a natural effect that the Metaverse will be the next step in the not-distant future.

Creative Agencies to watch are Journee by Waltz Binaire and Dog Studio (Tomorrowland, KIKK Festival)